The Tragic Case of Sam Riddall
Eleven year-old Sam Riddall was going home from church when he was killed by a car driven by Hannah Saaf. Today she was detained indefinitely in hospital, as she had severe mental health problems. The DVLA had revoked her licence because of this and the judge said.
You were clearly under the influence of cannabis, and you were doing so while driving twice the speed limit allowed. Finally, you left the scene having killed the victim. There’s no sentence a court can pass that will ever compensate for a tragic loss such as this.
He added that were it not for Saaf’s mental state she would have faced “a very substantial custodial sentence”.
The reaction of Sam’s father, Martin Riddall, was not one of revenge, but one of forgiveness.
In four days time we celebrate Christmas – the first Christmas without our Sam. It’s going to be very hard indeed because we still miss him very much.
The devout Christian added he would ask God to forgive Saaf for her “terrible” act.
I have no religion, but I feel that in cases like this revenge has no place, as what good does it do? I lost my wife to an aggressive cancer two years ago and no matter how difficult it is, I have moved on. In fact she told me to before she died.
I think though that we can all learn from Martin Riddall. My heart goes out to him and his family and I wish them well in the future.
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The Anonymous Widower 
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